1. Field of the invention
The invention relates in general to a game of chance and skill and, in particular, to such a game to be played in a wagering environment which, at all times, utilizes unique rules that apply an order of prevalence between a banker player's hand and action player's hand to determine a winner, and includes unique playing pieces of which any value may be assigned thereto.
2. Description of Related Art and Other Considerations
Various wagering games have been proposed wherein the players play against the "house" or another player who is acting as a "banker". To be successful, such games must not only hold the interests of the players as noted in Nelson et al U.S. Pat. No. 5,411,268, but they must also have rules that potential players can quickly learn, and move at a relatively fast pace. Attention is invited to Richard L. Frey, rev., "The New Complete Hoyle Revised" (New York:Doubleday, 1991), 3-14, 513-527, 541-548, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference, for a detailed description of various recognized forms of card games, including the game Blackjack.
The game of Blackjack is a fast moving game that has easily learned straightforward rules, however the game generally requires very little skill on the part of the player. For instance, in Blackjack, a player may choose additional cards in an effort to obtain twenty-one, however once the player goes over twenty-one there is no possibility for that player to win. Because of this, the game of Blackjack inherently contains the undesirable characteristic of loosing the interest of many players since going over a predesignated number, such as twenty-one, results in the impossibility of winning. Hence it is desirous to eliminate this characteristic.
However, in eliminating this characteristic it is desirous to, among other things, maintain easily learned rules, otherwise participation of new players is discouraged. This occurs because, as the rules of a game become more complex, the "learning curve" of a game increases, which, in turn, discourages participation of new players who refuse to take the time to learn the rules. Hence there is a need for a game of chance and skill that, among other things, eliminates the impossible win situation while, at the same time, maintains easily learned rules.
The problem of devising an easily learned, fast moving game, wherein the combined elements of play are presented so as to maintain a high degree of interest in the players has generally eluded previous workers in this art. Those concerned with these problems recognize the need for an improved game. These and other problems have been overcome according to the present invention.